Monday, 5 December 2011

I started quilting this last year for my two eldest grandchildren but was also making a quilted advent calendar for my youngest grandson and just never managed to get both done in time. Anyway I finished it off a week or so ago and took it over for Stanley and Rose. I had better start my next one earlier next year! I do love this simple quilting work, it is so relaxing to do and you end up with something really attractive. I have made quilts for all my grandchildren when they were born and so far two advent calendars and two Christmas blanket quilts. I also made a fairly complicated Celtic knot quilted cushion for my mum in law who is half scottish and half irish. That was rather more painstaking as it was very intricate. I have to admit I love doing them for the children as I like the designs so much but I was still pleased to make my mum in law something she really liked. Still....I think I will stick to Peter Rabbit and Rudolph and friends from now on......

Sunday, 27 November 2011

We have a group called "Mixed Media Scavenger Hunt" on Freeing Your Wings for which we create a mix of pieces each month using 6 items listed for the hunt. For our November/Christmas hunt our words were: berries, bracken, evergreen, frost, rosy cheeks and mittens. Last Friday my little grandaughter and I made this little montage for my garden on the front step! You should be able to see all the items but just in case you are having trouble finding the frost .....Rose glued some icy sparkle onto the roof of the house and the rosy cheeks and mittens are on the snowman!

Friday, 18 November 2011

I had such a nice day with my dear friend Carol today. It started off with coffee and a croissant and then we went onto the Brighton MADE Fair which is held every year in November and which we go to together every year too.
This is a wonderful "fair" as it is a gathering of extremely talented artists of every walk of "arty/creative life". This year I completely fell in love with one particular artist whose work is shown above. This lovely lady, Angela Davies, was so sweet and let me take a photo of her beautiful work to put onto FYW. Photos are not allowed in the exhibition because people often copy ideas but I explained to Angela about FYW and those of us on here who love to "art journal". For me, her stand was art journalling in 3D. It was fabulous and my photo does not do it justice. It is just a small part of what was on display. She makes lots of "book art" which I know many of my fellow art journallers would love. You can see the range of her work on her website which is
http://www.angeladaviesartist.co.uk/
Anyway it was, as always a lovely day out and, as we always do, Carol and I bought each other a small present each for Christmas. We have been doing this for years and I have a wonderful little selection of arty bits and pieces that we have chosen together at one or other of the Christmas Art Fairs we go to! If you are a local member, the Art Fair is on until Sunday and well worth a visit.

Thursday, 17 November 2011

I remember just before I got ill in 2002 and had to retire from my job as a primary headteacher, that I was asked to give a lecture to newly qualified teachers on the importance of art within education. I remember compiling a whole page of wonderful quotes to this end and it was one of the handouts I gave to the attendees. It was a really successful and enjoyable session and I remember it very fondly as so many of the young teachers came up to me afterwards to say that they were now inspired to not just teach art but to teach "through" art, that I had opened their eyes to something they had not thought of before. Mostly this was because they thought they were no good at art themselves. How did that happen I wonder?? Well we all know the answer to that....
Anyway, this was one of the very last things I did as a headteacher as only about a week later I was so ill with my (at that time unknown) cancer that I was no longer able to go to work. Some weeks later my deputy sent on to me a batch of letters from these same students saying what a difference to their teaching that day had made. I still get a thrill from that for I was a passionate believer in all the creative and expressive arts as a teacher. Art, in all its forms, does so much for young children and at the time I got ill, it was being sidelined out of the curriculum to such an extent that newly qualified young teachers had no confidence to teach it. I was certainly carrying the banner for the arts at that time and I was leading a series of lectures on art, dance and drama in particular as I was going downhill fast with my illness.
But, now 11 years later, those last few weeks of my career still linger in my memory because the funny thing is that I never had any confidence in myself as an artist either. Art journalling and the wonderful people you meet through doing it, brought my inner fears right out and tossed them right away for me. So..... I still believe in the joy, the healing, the flying high that we can get when we express ourselves through art and I am so happy I have others still to share this with.
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Sunday, 13 November 2011

I painted these four angels ATCs yesterday for the Christmas ATC Swap on Freeing Your Wings. (You will find this swap in the "Trading Treasures" group on the site - beautifully and lovingly organised by Angela).
I am always disappointed when the photos of my paintings show up what I consider to be blemishes even when they are not evident on the real thing. Today I have come to the conclusion that it is because I use cold pressed water colour paper which has that ridgey effect. I use neocolour II water colour crayons and it seems to me that unless you blend them in with a touch of acrylic, they possibly don't cling to the surface perfectly. It has never struck me before but looking at this reproduction I think that could be the case. In "real life" the colours blend absolutely fine but I suppose that is just what the light is showing me as in the photograph I can see places where it does not.
I am not going to do any more with them as I was fairly pleased with them particularly the profile angel with the dark brown hair and being so small, every altered brush stroke has the potential to make a huge difference. Still, I can really see the learning potential here in taking a photograph of my work each time. I know that my art guru Tam, always recommends hot pressed paper which has a smooth finish and I am guessing this is why. If she wasn't 4 days overdue in having her second baby I would ask her but I suspect she has other things on her mind. Maybe one of these angels I have painted is looking after her and her baby just now. I would like to think so.

Saturday, 12 November 2011

Lady With An Ermine
The National Gallery has really pulled off a coup with the Leonardo Da Vinci Exhibition which has just opened in London. I hope I manage to get there but in the meantime have at least been able to watch the Sky Arts programme which in itself is mesmerising. I must admit to knowing nothing really about the two paintings above and did not realise they are held to be so revolutionary in that they were the very first portraits to "break the mould" of profile portraiture which had been the traditional way of recording the rich and famous up to that point.
Both ladies are rumoured to be mistresses of the Duke of Milan, although some sources believe La belle ferroniere may be his wife. These portraits are considered to be perfect examples of Leonardo's desire to show the personalities and emotions of his sitters, to really get inside them and to bring them to life in every sense of the word. It is interesting that the National has arranged them so that La belle ferroniere seems to be glaring at the woman with the ermine.....which led the presenters to add to the speculation that she was the duke's wife and the other his mistress!

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Sunday, 6 November 2011

We have two Christmas arty challenges just posted on my social network site Freeing Your Wings www.freeingyourwings.ning.com
The first is in our "Trading Treasures" Group which is an ATC (Artists' Trading Cards) Swap, organised as always by my dear friend, Angela. Our Christmas theme is "Angels." This is a really lovely group and if you enjoy swapping small pieces of art, why don't you join FYW and join us in the Trading Treasures Group? We don't work under pressure, always time to complete without a panic as we have members across the Atlantic who always join in. Angela makes each "Swap" arrival a joy as she parcels up our little cards just like the beautiful gifts they are!
Secondly in Freeing Your Wings we have a Christmas challenge in our "Mixed Media Scavenger Group". Usually any creative piece is fine, anything from a painting, poem, story, montage, collage, photo etc etc. This time I have asked everyone if they will join with me to create a little montage in the garden....you don't need a big garden, mine is tiny only comprising of a verandah and a few steps. A windowsill would do! Create a montage using :
Berries
Evergreen
Frost
Bracken
Mittens
Rosy cheeks.
I did one last year for example using snowflake, fir cone, angel, Christmas tree, bird and star. Here it is to give you an idea:

I was very lucky really as I had bought the little snowflake ornament as you can see but then it snowed for real!
Join in if you would like too please! And....please check out our site if you have not done so yet. We have a really special group of lovely people on it! Go to www.freeingyourwings.ning.com

Over the last few days I have "met" a few lovely new people, thanks to Tam (Tamara Laporte) showing three pieces of my artwork on her site Willowing. (A fabulous site if you are an art lover by the way www.willowing.ning.com) I was just reading the great artblog of a new friend Pippa http://pjbear-determinedscrapper.blogspot.com/ who I have met because Tam did this.....such a lovely way to meet new people and find we have such similar interests. A reminder of the good side of the techno revolution...I have met some lovely new friends through art sites and blogs.
Anyway, like Pippa, I felt really chuffed that Tam had chosen three of my pictures to highlight too. So perhaps I will enjoy it a little and pop them on here as well. Anyway here are the ones Tam chose....

This is part of a faerie on canvas I painted during Tam's Magical Mythical Makings course.

This is the face of my goddess which was also painted on canvas on the same course.

And this was a pencil drawing I did ..... I posted this recently I know but was so pleased Tam picked her too. Forgive me if I have posted them all before. If I had hundreds of paintings to choose from, it wouldn't happen....but I am learning so the choice is restricted!
Anyway....thank you Tam ....not just for highlighting a bit of my work which really has done my self esteem the world of good....but also for introducing me to new friends.

Friday, 4 November 2011

Twice a week I walk my two eldest (not exactly old being 3 and coming up for 6) grandchildren to school and nursery in nearby Steyning. Every time I am there the beauty of being in the country hits me like new. Instead of walking out of my house into a busy main road, I walk out of my daughter's house into a beautiful little village and we make our way through a series of twittens to the local school and then on through the churchyard, park and across the "faerie" bridge to nursery.No matter what the weather we are always accompanied by birdsong and, now in the autumn, all along the way we pick up acorns, pine cones and conkers scattered along the ground.
It is is joy to be up early in the morning with a purpose again on those days and even though I have to wait at the bus stop in the dark, my bus stop is right next to the sea and on several occasions lately, I have watched the sunrise over the water as I have waited for my bus. Sometimes we are reminded so beautifully of how lucky we are and never more so than when we stop to take in the natural beauty around us. Wherever we are in the world, Mother Nature paints her own pictures and as I get older, I notice even more details within those paintings. One of the things that I am so grateful for is the opportunity to share these simple joys with my grandchildren, knowing that they will grow up appreciating the simple pleasures of life and the beauty of the natural world.
It does wonders for days when we get tired and stressed with all the electronic barrage going on around us all nowadays, don't you think? Let's all try and find a little time to enjoy the beauty around us, wherever we are in the world, this weekend.

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Ah....this is my cheeky baby grandson, Joseph, his cute little face has managed to make me smile! :-) I would love to add photos of my other two grandchildren but my daughter does not really like their photos online...maybe I can find photos where you cannot tell it is them. Anyway my youngest son and daughter-in-law don't mind so at least you can see little JJ!

Thought I was on the mend.....and back it comes.....again, and again, and again. Feeling very fed up with feeling sick now. Will have to do something to cheer up this "sorry for me" little blog......better watch this space....

Friday, 28 October 2011

"There was a little girl
who had a little curl
right in the middle of her forehead,
and when she was good,
she was very very good,
and when she was bad
she was horrid."
My lovely sister, Yvonne, used to recite this to me when I was small. She was 11 years older than me so I can guess why....

This is an interesting one. I drew her once before...not sure if I put her here on Dancing Daisies or not but originally I drew her and simply added paint in two places. I did her all in pencil but gave her blue eyes and a scarlet tatoo on her arm. That one was done for a mixed media scavenger hunt on Freeing Your Wings www.freeingyourwings.ning.com but when I added the blue eyes I smudged the paint onto her neck. It really upset me as I was so pleased with my drawing up to that point. Well it has always bugged me so I drew her again, intending for her to be just the same although this time I left out the blue eyes and the tatoo. Funny thing though isn't it? Again the drawing herself took on the expression she wanted to have. To me she looks just slightly nervous whereas her pre-decessor looked more confident...or maybe that bit more determined...whereas this young lady looks more unsure of herself. That how it seems to me anyway. When I think about it, I would have been feeling anxious when I drew this one above as I was still feeling upset that I had messed up the first one.
Well....maybe I have too vivid an imagination....but here is the original....what do you think?

Still lying here feeling sorry for myself....but at least am able to sit up and faff about a bit on the computer for a while. So...thought I would add a few of my recent journal pages as I am supposed to add my paintings to this blog....most of the time I look at them and think "ooooh....well maybe not...." but that's not the spirit really is it?! :-) Anyway here is one I did do recently...

I couldn't do much more with this one as the paper was not watercolour paper and wouldn't take any more shading but I quite liked her really. I really love the way you can paint a face and actually get the sort of personality you envisage for your "person" into the face somehow. Then sometimes the faces decide for themselves what they want to express .... have you noticed that?
It makes me smile when this happens, makes me think that there is something else at work in the "ether" when I am painting. Sometimes I don't have a set idea on the sort of personality I want to shine through but somehow it always happens. I see it start to take shape as I am drawing. I think this is something to do with what could be going on in my subconscious at the time. I truly believe that art, that is making your own art, is a way of healing and so....if something needs to come out, why shouldn't it come out in your work? Often healing can take place in very mysterious ways. I look at this little face and I feel something "ping" deep inside of me. I didn't intend her to look so sad but she does. There has to be some sort of connection somewhere. Anyway she is one who did decide for herself what she wanted to "say" when she was painted. Faces on paintings always speak to us somehow don't they? Of course they don't necessarily say the same things to each of us....again.....that makes me wonder what else is going on ....out there in the ether!

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

I would love to introduce you to two new friends of mine who I have met through another very good friend of mine. Above .... meet .... Aditi (she's the pink one) and Etana! :-) Shall I explain? :-)

A good friend of mine, Lucy, has recently set up a new company with her friend Suse. Their company is called PINK CHILLIES .... www.pinkchillies.co.uk Lucy is also a highly respected Tarot reader and has also recently set up the Brighton Centre of Spirituality.

Well....this new company is a business venture with a big heart! A big heart especially for the endangered species of our struggling planet. I think it is best to use their own words from the website to introduce them properly to you ....

"What is Pink Chillies?

Here at Pink Chillies we LOVE elephants. Every single gorgeous bit of them! It is our love of elephants (and nature in general) that lead to the creation of Pink Chillies.

Pink Chillies is a company of three, a company that is growing organically which is more important to us than going for the big sell. We want to raise awareness but not make it an obligation – we want to bring something fun and unique to you that will also connect you to the issues we want to help. Something that is irresistibly cute - that you can cuddle, collect and never forget.

Our idea is not a new one but perhaps one of the few to focus on elephants and hopefully raise some awareness to the challenges and threats not only facing elephants, but also the other animals in our growing Pink Chillies family. Because of this, we donate 10% of the profit from sale of our products to charity. The charities we support do great work in supporting these animals and tackling the challenges and threats facing them and their habitats.

Our plush toys (which are on their way) are beautiful and reflect the essence of the animals. Each animal is named and the name has significance, for example our Indian Elephant is named ‘Aditi’, which means Earth. Our African Elephant is named ‘Etana’, which means Strong. Etana is strong and protective of Aditi and as the range evolves, the sense of family and support will grow with it. Look out for our new elephants and their friends, many of which are being created as we speak!

Help us to spread the word by telling your friends and family about Pink Chillies, you can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Best wishes

The Pink Chillies Team x"

The website has been live for just a couple of months and I know that they are currently in busy negotiations with various parties to build Pink Chillies up and bring in lots of exciting new merchandise. I have seen the second prototype of Aditi (above... and had a nice cuddle with her......she is a sweetie!) and seen their lovely stock. It is great! So I would just like to give them a boost from a friend and introduce them to you all here on my blog. Please do take a look at their site and let your friends know about it too.

Thursday, 13 October 2011

On my "Ning" site "Freeing Your Wings" we have a few groups to which we add a new theme monthly. One is the "Mixed Media Scavenger Hunt" and we get a great mix of artwork and writing. Each month we use six words that have to be incorporated into the piece. This is my contribution for October. Our words were: CRESCENT, WORDS, BLUE, LIGHT,PEACE, EXPRESSION.

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

I was looking through the many videos that people on my "Freeing Your Wings" site have contributied over the past couple of years last week. I came upon this one, originally posted by a friend in Macedonia (Anamarija). I had forgotten about it but as soon as I saw it I remembered how stunningly beautiful it was. It is an incredible production. It is part of an exhibition which travelled the world and is a 'Flying Elephants' production. There are several more from the same exhibition ob Youtube if you enjoy this one. I cannot imagine anyone would not enjoy it.....but make sure you are sitting somewhere really quiet and mellow before you click on 'play.'

Sunday, 9 October 2011

I wonder if the little boys who knitted for the war effort back in the 1940's could ever have visualised that their grandsons would be taking up knitting for relaxation purposes some 70 years later?

In today's Independent on Sunday, there is a report that knitting is basically the new meditation for men even as burly and macho as Laurence Fishbourne and Russell Crowe. Whether that is stretching the truth just a little, the article was not sure but all in all I loved reading this article and can only say good for them. Are we women coming just one step further into our own? The rage for women knitting seriously again started well over a decade ago now but it seems that some of our more "aware" of the male species have realised that the gentle repetition of the click clacking knitting needles does indeed offer them a quiet space to sit and reflect and quite simply relax.

Companies such as John Lewis and the handknitting company Rowan estimate that there has been a massive increase in the numbers of men buying up the yarn and needles and it is definitely becoming a new and thriving market! It was great to read that a very cool 50 year old David Wishingsky,who runs a tea room not far away from me in East Sussex, has actually started up a knitting group in his cafe. David has recognised the therapeutic effects of picking up his needles and there is a great photo of him sitting knitting next to his table laid out for tea, complete with teapot in a pink tea cosy! Brilliant stuff!

Friday, 7 October 2011

Here it is....isn't it just stunning. I could see from the link it is called "Spiritual Journey" but again I couldn't see the artist....but will look for it later so I can add it.Anyway I can't say how much I love it. I find it mesmerising. Apart from the glorious blueness of it, the eyes are so incredible and the ways/he is holding the beads....fabulous. Again such an emotive painting. Hope you like it too.

Isn't this a wonderful painting?! I found it yesterday just "googling" around for pictures for Freeing Your Wings. Actually I found this and another which I just fell in love with and will post that one later.

I can't always find the link to the painters when I find pictures in this way (ie through Google Images) so I feel bad about not being able to acknowledge who painted this. I shall try and find out.

Just great though isn't it? I always love images whether drawings, paintings or sculptures which reflect so much feeling in the way the body is depicted. There is so much "story" in them. I love the colours in this too. Tabulous.

Here is the "Cupcake Wedding Cake" made by family and friends (me included!) for our friends Adrian and Lou on their wedding day last Saturday, 1st October. There are even cakes made by Lou's five year old niece and nephew....you might be able to spot them in there! Anyway.....what a lovely sight they made. I was really happy to help Lou's mum, Carol, arrange the cake display early on the wedding morning. It was so wonderful to see all those little cakes, all so different, yet all made with so much love. They were certainly a talking piece. I remember when Lou asked me to be one of her cupcake team back in January. Her vision was all homemade and all different and she was so right. Somehow they are on a completely different level to a professional display of "all the same and perfect". These were all the same and perfect in a different way....all made with love for a very lovely couple. Lou and Adi met about 6 years ago and just after they met Adi was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Their first couple of years together were full of fear and pain and to see them now, having come through all that together, was very special. I know from my own experience, that sharing that particular journey, will only have made them stronger and brought them closer. They are off on the honeymoon of a lifetime in three weeks....to Australia in a camper van for three weeks of magic I am sure!

So sorry.....just realised that my "background music" plays at the same time as the little videos I have been adding. I need to sort that out....can't remember without searching how to remove the music player.....please bear with me as I will find the way!

I danced the night away last night at our friends' wedding. Didn't think I still had it in me. I always loved dancing just on my own when younger but over the past few years, never go anywhere to do it anymore. In the summer we went to a friends' party in their garden and I just lost all my confidence. I knew I hadn't danced since I got ill back in 2002. That evening my friends finally pulled me up to join them but I still felt sort of odd and felt so sad that I used never to feel self conscious about dancing on my own.

Last night though, for some reason, I was shy no more and just joined in. I managed to drag my husband Benn on the floor to join me eventually but I had been dancing on my own on and off for about 3 hours before that! Anyway it was great, I did not feel 63 at all and jumped up and down with the best of them to some great songs, waving my arms in the air!!

Friday, 30 September 2011

I was so stressed today!! Help!! Then... I remembered this little video. It always cheers me up and the words remind me that even when I don't have time to sit and draw I can still "Relax and float away" in my head...... Happy weekend everyone.x

Today was a big day! Today I resurrected my dear old bike which I haven't ridden for two years four months....since the last time I discoved my cancer was back in fact. Since the last operation my poor bike has been lying unridden in the big shared cupboard in the hallway of the house where we have a flat. Well....to be exact, my husband resurrected it for me yesterday when he resurrected his own to get it serviced. He had mine serviced too which was so sweet of him and actually finally put the firework up me to get on it again.

So.....out the cupboard they came and this morning there they were all shining and oiled and renewed and....raring to go. Can't say I was....or Benn .....but we went. Benn has very high blood pressure and a few other problems at the moment and so we thought it would be good for him. Nowadays my exercise is mostly walking which I do do a LOT of. Two years ago before I was ill again though, I was also cycling and swimming and those are the two things I haven't got back to ....so this seemed like the best opportunity.

Well...off we went. We are so lucky as we live just two minutes from the seafront in Hove, which has a cycle path and which is flat....so perfect for unfit and out of practice cyclists....like "what we is!!" :-)

Anyway, it was great of course although it took more out of me than I realised whilst I was cycling. It would be easy, to be honest, to stick it back in the cupboard again but I am determined not to. We will see.....................

ps I think the photo is by Mark Kaufman. It made me smile.......we really are old though!

Monday, 26 September 2011

I wanted to draw this girl simply in pencil and then add just two colours. I added blue to her eyes and red to the tatoo on her arm. I like to simply draw sometimes and I think it really helps me to learn. Learning how to shade has been something I had to teach myself years ago as I never had that teaching at school. I remember when I chose to take art as one of my specialist subjects when I did my B.ED I was terrified as I was surrounded by school leavers (I was 36 at that time) who knew all about it. When I first heard one of them mention "cross hatching" I wanted to run and leave the room. Somehow I got through that blind panic and fear of looking like a fool though but even then for the next couple of years, I tried to avoid drawing, working mainly in colour, printing, textiles etc. I know exactly that it was my fear of looking inferior to everyone else that prevented me doing more drawing at that time.

So stupid. As a teacher, I spent my entire life reminding children that it is fine not to know how to do something because school is a place where you can learn. Why is it that so many of us are "experts" in helping others and useless at following our own advice?

It wasn't until two and a half years ago that I finally summoned up the courage to try and really improve my drawing by admitting that I was a learner. I joined a wonderful social network art site that was running at the time called "Taking Flight". Somehow it was so much easier to admit I wanted to learn to draw in this anonymous way to the other people on the site who were not sitting in my front room looking me in the eye!

That was when I started art journalling. When I look back now at those first tentative drawings and paintings I can see my inhibitions and anxiety looking back at me. As I turn the pages of my first journal I can see the moments when I tried to make a "quantum" leap forward in courage and I can also see how my courage slowly grew and grew and by the end of that first journal a whole exploration of not just my drawing skills had taken place, but also an exploration of my confidence.

I have three more journals now and for a while, I put that first one away in a drawer because I knew a lot of it was inferior. The other day though I saw it looking up at me almost indignantly. "How could you do this to me?" it seemed to be saying. "Once....I was the light of your little creative life." I took it out of the drawer then and went through it page by page. I had written on each page when I had made it and on some pages, what was happening in my life at the time. As I went into hospital for major surgery quite early on in the journal, it really is a recording of deep emotion. Looking back through it, I felt very comforted to know I had made it to here. I found myself reliving not just the experiences then but also the very feelings I had had, as I had made my journal pages. Living memories for me.

So making this drawing above, "Girl with a scarlet tattoo" reminded me in particular of the very first page of my very first journal. I do like her anyway but for some reason, because she took me back to the beginning of my love affair with art journalling, she is rather special.

I have found myself enjoying so many other peoples' art blogs of late that it has spurred me back onto using my own again. Having "Freeing Your Wings" as my own site finds me spending most of my time on there where I do have a small blog spot too....but it is not the place to blog to any extent really.

So much about my own exploration into creativity is whirring again in my mind and I have started writing again which I had stopped really as I was working hard to improve my art.

Finding Tamara Laporte on "Willowing" was the BEST possible thing that could have happened to me art wise. How lucky I was too, to live right near Tam and so I have consequently got to know her, her husband Andy and their little son Dylan. I could never thank Tam enough for all I have learnt from her. If you don't know her site yet you really do need to take a look. It is at http://www.willowing.ning.com/

Back to my....well I think my blog needs an overhaul and an update really so I am going to work on that. For now I am going to post some of the paintings I have done more recently just to give it a bit of a fresh face. The one I have posted here was on canvas and part of my 6-week course with Tam above. This course was called "Magical Mythical Makings" and is now running on Willowing as a self-study group. There were four main elements, Goddesses (I did post one of mine goddess earlier this year), Angels, Mermaids and Fairies. This was my final piece on the course and I was pretty pleased with her. When I look back at work I was doing a year or so ago, I can see I am getting much better....but I also know I still have a long way to go. Still this is my faerie and this was my second piece of work on a canvas....my goddess was the first and the first time I have ever worked on canvas. Actually I really like it and must try another one soon. Think I will try a smaller one next time. These two were big!

Ah well....that's today. I think I only have about 3 followers anyway and you lovely ladies have probably long given up on me.... but thank you so much for supporting me when you did. Maybe my blog will slowly build up again.

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Ah for some reason I found my way back to my blog spot tonight....I don't know why but I like to think I was guided here for a reason. Have had a really tough start to this year but my moments of painting have helped a lot. I am following a wonderful course on http://www.willowing.ning.com/ which is run by the wonderful Tam.....Tamara Laporte. The absolutely best art site I have ever found. I created my goddess above by following Tam's wonderful lessons. She was my first piece of work on a canvas and she stood at the bottom of my bed for several weeks as she took form, just looking up at me. I felt like she really became REAL and has been around me ever since, looking out for me.

I followed her up with my guardian angel which I will post later this week. Nice to be back although I realise I am probably talking to myself.......:) x

Faerie

About Me

Above everything else I am a very happy grandma these days! My family is the best thing I have in this world. I am also a retired teacher, now happily making the most of time to share with family and friends and my favourite hobbies including art, singing in two choirs, writing and spiritual development. My faith is important to me and I am a catholic but feel very strongly that the faiths of all peoples of the world are to be respected and treated with love.
I am proud to be a positive statistic of cancer. I have had it three times now and am still here. I am not brave enough to call myself a cancer survivor but I live with it ok.....thanks to my wonderful family and friends and also, I believe, to my faith and trust and ongoing belief in survival!
.